Throwback Thursday--D's baby quilt

This is a new post in a series about quilts I completed before I started blogging. It is my effort to document past quilts with pictures and as many details as I can remember (often not many) about how I constructed them. I'll be posting these indefinitely on Throwback Thursday. 

Today's quilt is a baby quilt I made for my new grandniece D in the fall of 2008. (Maybe I'll show her twin brother's quilt next week.) The pattern is Log Cabin Squared by Beth Hayes that I found in the Fall 2008 issue of America Makes Fast Quilts by McCall's Quilting. The original pattern called for 25 fat quarters and was made of 12-inch by 12-inch White House Steps blocks set in 5 rows of 5 blocks. I think I re-sized the pattern to make 8-inch blocks, and I added an extra row. The finished center square of each block was 2 inches and the finished strips were 1 inch wide. 

The quilt is machine pieced. At the time that I made it, I was a hand quilter. But I was also working full time and did not have time to hand quilt items that were needed quickly. So my baby quilts were almost always tied. I tied this one with no. 5 perle cotton. The batting is Mountain Mist polyester.

I found a cute plaid fabric to use for the binding and decided to cut it on the bias. I had done few bias bindings in the past (I think only on some quilts that had scallops), and I had never attached one by machine, so I struggled with this one, probably pulling it too taut as I was sewing. So the edge ruffled a bit. It was fairly evenly ruffled, and so I let it be. I figured it added to the feminine nature of the quilt. (Well that seemed like a good excuse to not tear it all off, anyway.) Now that I just bought an even feed foot, I have a feeling that if I do another bias binding, I'll be more successful.  

The finished quilt was about 40 by 48 inches before washing. 

I'm linking up today with My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday and possibly Quiltin' Jenny for Throwback Thursday, if she posts. 

And...come back tomorrow. I have a finish to post, and I'm so happy!